The Holy Father will have much to suffer.
Pray for the Bishops to come together in a retreat of prayer.*
I'm convinced that it remains our duty to pray for and support our Bishops and the Holy Father. No, I am not suggesting we sweep the scandals under the rug, but we have to be very careful about indicting every single priest and bishop as complicit in the cover ups and abuse itself. That is absolutely not true, which is why it is extremely important to listen to good bishop, such as Bishop Paul Sirba, whose letter I publish before. There are many priests and bishops coming forward, finally able to voice publicly what many have known for decades, the problem of a homosexual subculture within the Church, which influenced and in some cases, dictated the contemporary problem of clericalism and corruption being unmasked today.
Letter from Bishop Sirba:
I know the answer is Jesus Christ. Hope is found in the dying and rising of Jesus. The day of restoration and renewal will happen through the mercy of Jesus and our full cooperation in the work of the Redemption of Jesus Christ. I can also hear Jesus saying, “I’ve got this.”
For the past five years, in a more intense way — the first revelations go back to the 1980s and 1990s — Catholics in the state of Minnesota have been exposed to the sins of the Church’s priests and bishops. Now the Church in Pennsylvania and across the nation has had to look at the horrendous sin of sexual abuse of minors and the failures of the Church in protecting the people of God, yet again.
We need to name the shame, anger, and sadness. The sexual abuse of minors, episcopal failures, cover-ups and enabling behaviors, homosexual subcultures in the priesthood, and sins against celibacy must be confessed, rooted out, and repaired. To quote Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the USCCB, “We are faced with a spiritual crisis that requires not only spiritual conversion, but practical changes to avoid repeating the sins and failures of the past that are so evident in the recent report.”
When it comes the crime of the abuse of minors, our hearts break open as sordid details call for independent investigations and the work of very trusted lay faithful to assist the bishops within the Church to remedy the problems. In the tumult, we must never lose our focus of providing healing for the victims and help for those who have been hurt and preventing this sin in the future.
Our experience of the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Diocese of Duluth is unique to us in some ways, but the underlying sinful human condition is universal and will be brought to light across our nation and our world. While we have been living with the crisis most recently through our bankruptcy, we have to be spiritually prepared for whatever new revelations may come to light in other parts of the Body of Christ, as well.
This purification, although excruciatingly painful, is necessary for healing. The light of Christ scatters the darkness of sin and evil.
The Scriptures that come to mind for me are: “It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin” (Luke 17:2), the parable of the weeds among the wheat (Matthew 13:24-30), the woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8:1-8). These and other sacred texts provide ample reflection for my personal conversion and institutional change.
I have said that the protection of our youth and providing the safest environment for our young people is the work of our lifetime. I know our efforts in the Diocese of Duluth have made a difference. As a diocese we will continue to offer prayers for healing and reparation. I ask the clergy, religious, and lay faithful to pray and fast so as to lead the Church to enact canonical changes that hold bishops accountable, protect men discerning a call to the priesthood, and lead to new mechanisms of holding bishops accountable that have never been in place before to safeguard our children and restore trust.
I apologize and humbly ask your forgiveness for what I and my fellow bishops have done or failed to do. I am sorry for anyone who has been hurt and the scandal caused in the Body of Christ. - Bishop Paul Sirba
Just a comment.
Agree or disagree with me, but I assure you bishops like Sirba, priests like Fr. Altier who have the courage to admit these problems publicly, are not in the least 'homophobic'. Nor are they scapegoating gay priests or gay Catholics. I know them. They have heard my confessions. They are among the best men I have ever had the grace and privilege to know.
I am absolutely convinced that part of this scandal is a direct attack by the evil one against the Church, especially as it has evolved now to this point, pitting the faithful against the hierarchy, condemning them as an entity. Many of the younger bishops must be as shocked as we are about the senior bishops systematically covering up and enabling the evildoers to remain in ministry.
Thinking of Fatima, how Our Lord and Our Lady insisted that the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary was only effective if the Pope and the Bishops united to perform that work, it seems to me Heaven requires that same unity of the Pope and Bishops to confront this crisis. Thus the Holy Father calls us to prayer and penance to obtain that grace. It's an extremely serious appeal which we need to heed, and we need to support the Holy Father and the Bishop in union with him.
*I am thinking of how Our Lord made a request in 1943 through Sr. Lucia to the Bishops of Spain:
I had to make known to the Archbishop of Valladolid, by order of His Excellency, a little request of Our Lord to the bishops of Spain and another to the bishops of Portugal. May God grant that all of them hear His voice!NB: Likewise, I think the false interpreters of Fatima by those who have promoted conspiracy theories that Sr. Lucia had a double and suggest this cardinal or bishop and even the pope, have disobeyed heaven and deny the 3rd secret was revealed, as well as insisting the consecration was not made, are proven to be false simply on the basis of their seeking to turn Catholics against the authentic Magisterium and the Pope.
He wishes that the bishops of Spain gather together in a retreat and determine a reform in the people, clergy and religious orders; for some convents! and many members of others…! do you understand?
He wishes that it be made clear to souls that the true penance He now wants and requires consists first of all in the sacrifice that each one must make to fulfill his own religious and temporal duties. - Sr. Lucia
26 August, 2018 Update: Even after the bad news, I stand with the Church and the Holy Father.
I give thanks for the great gift that Bishop Robert Barron has been and will be for our beloved Church. May our Lord Jesus and our Lady Mary watch over him and keep him safe. May his witness lift up the people of God to
ReplyDelete"rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfLrfFKT5LU
Me too. He's a very good bishop. I know it sounds nuts but I'm convinced we need to support the bishops and pray for them more than ever - God himself, through the prayers of Our Lady will purify them - but we need to remain faithful and vigilant. He will act, he promised it: "For I myself will look after and tend my sheep."
DeleteAmen! I believe you are right as I too sense that in this hour, we cannot abandon those to whom God has entrusted his people. I am not suggesting that we sweep everything away either but they need our prayers because who else will sustain them in battle?
DeleteHere's another wonderful suggestion from Bishop Barron:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzwvRGU9Sew
Thanks Terry for another solid article. I'm doing much better too after I sent you that email. I have been handing it over to Jesus and he, together with Mother Mary and St. Joseph. They are my great consolation.
Let's keep praying for each other and supporting each other for the sake of the Church and the world.
I continue to believe that the problems we long suspected and now have documentation existed are deeply systemic in the hierarchy. There are no instant fixes. The problem is not just Chancery based, but exits also in Religious Communities. The American Church has had more then a decade to reform itself. Instead it has many times embraced a culture that is materialistic and permissive. I think there will be more grand juries in more jurisdictions with more deisclosures. The Church has been the primary lobbyist in all State Legislatures that have attempts to lift the statue of limitations for sexual abuse cases. In light of this I cannot agree with looking the other way. I want justice for victims and consequences for those who covered up. I think nothing less then what the Pope required of Chile, the resignation of all Bishops. Let the innocent be vindicated publicly and the complicit removed publicly. The Church needs to drop its open opposition to legal changes in permitting victim to bring charges. Anything less will merely perpetuate the system of secrecy. The American Hierarchy will never establish credibility with the general public and the harm inflicted thus far will deepen.
ReplyDeleteI fully agree, Mr. H. Change and true faithfulness on the part of our hierarchy, and the rest of us, won't happen overnight. But we have no choice - this our time to rise to our Baptismal promises and truly live what we say we believe. And you are right about these problems (materialistic and permissive culture, not in line with Church teaching) existing in religious Orders as well. My own beloved Order has been infiltrated by this, and those of us who object are pressured to conform or to be silent. We have been far too involved in secular politics and trendy issues, and in doing so, have ignored the pressing and horrific problems in our own Church, which has culminated in the present catastrophe. Yes - "Let the innocent be vindicated publicly and the complicit removed publicly." Until we purge our institutions - schools, parishes, seminaries, dioceses, and Orders - of the *all* the unfaithful influences and distractions that exist, we will continue to be visited by these scandals, and souls will be lost.
DeleteI used to avoid Church Militant as an occasion of sin. Although I still disagree with some of his views, I'm starting to think that Michael Voris as a man of courage who has been telling the truth no one wanted to hear.
ReplyDeleteVoris' latest article on Cardinal Edwin O'Brien is absolutely depressing and sickening. How far and wide does this network of corruption run? If Voris's sources are lying and his information is wrong, then he is guilty of great slander. But "sources" are coming forth on other venues as well.
Yes, we have some faithful bishops who are speaking out but they are in the minority. I truly believe that except for men like Cardinal Sarah, a culture of holiness in the Church is going to be driven by the laity. There are many holy lay men and women out there who love Christ and His Church and who will be the source of renewal. We are all called to holiness.
"For I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls upon the earth. For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God; you shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” (Lev 11:44-45).
Do you feel that the cause of men raping and sexually assaulting women is heterosexuality? That is the same as saying that honosexuality is the reason men assault other men and young boys. That is what Voris and others like him are saying. Sexual assault and rape are never about sex, just as shooting someone is never about the gun. A gun is a weapon, not the cause, in a shooting, and sex is a weapon, not the cause in sexual assault. Pope Francis has clearly stated that the cause of the crisis is in the Church is clericalism. Clericalism is the sense of entitlement that drives these priests and bishops. How else to explain the cover ups by the bishops? Michael Voris and those like him will never solve the crisis because all they do is engage in finger pointing and causing even more hate and division, never getting to the root of the problem. They are only serving the devil with their tactics.
ReplyDeleteSouthernchild, there are priests online and in media telling what a gay network in seminaries and dioceses was like - and yet they made it through. Many others did not. To pretend this is not a homosexual problem within the hierarchy is why the scandal has reached this point. McCarrick is gay - he's not a pedophile. His cronies have used clericalism to protect themselves, which means they never acted to stop real pedophiles, and they looked the other way when straight priests kept house with their female lovers and so on. When problems arose, they sent them off to another assignment, and/or rehab. All hush hush. One former archbishop here gave the gay priests desk jobs or permission to go to another place in the country to teach or simply be a free agent. I wish you could identify yourself so we could understand where you are coming from, what experience you might have in this regard, and why you appear to be so obtuse in grasping the real problem unfolding at this time. Think it through, how and why did McCarrick rise to the top of the hierarchy? Why Wuerl?
DeleteOf course clericalism is part of the problem. And it must be admitted that much of the clericalism that manifests itself today is driven by a network of gay priests and bishops who protect one another.
ReplyDeleteAre you trying to say that "clericalism" in and of itself causes priests and seminarians to make unwanted sexual advances towards others? Is it clericalism that forces ordained priests to enter into consensual relationships with other priests or lay people? That's the worst excuse since Flip Wilson's Geraldine's line "the devil made me do it."
Vocations are being destroyed and good priests are being put out to pasture by a clericalism that is dominated by gay men.
According to various Italian news reports following a closed-door session with Italian bishops, Pope Francis on Monday, May 18, said that men with “deeply rooted” homosexual tendencies, or who “practice homosexual acts,” shouldn’t be allowed into the seminary.
A report by Vatican Insider says Francis told the Italian prelates: “These tendencies, when they are ‘deeply rooted,’ and the practice of homosexual acts, can compromise the life of the seminary beyond that of the young man himself and his eventual future priesthood.”
In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI approved a document that stated "In the light of such teaching, this Dicastery, in accord with the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, believes it necessary to state clearly that the Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called "gay culture".
A 1961 document approved by Pope John was entitled "Careful Selection And Training Of Candidates For The States Of Perfection And Sacred Orders". It stated that homosexual men should not be ordained, although this was left to bishops to enforce, and most did not, holding homosexuals to the same standards of celibate chastity as heterosexual seminarians.
Cardinal Madriaga, one of the Pope's closet advisors, is a practitioner of clericalism when he rebukes 48 seminarians in Honduras who claimed about a predominantly gay culture at the major seminary there. Cardinal Joseph Tobin, a Francis appointee, practices clericalism when he orders priests in his diocese not to talk to the press about homosexual activity. And what was Pope Francis doing when he accused the Chilean victims of abuse with slander?
Frank - I'm in full agreement with you.
DeleteOf course we have a problem with homosexual priests. That could never be denied. But those of you who think this is THE problem of the Church are ignoring the fact that priests are involved in just as many sins as the laity - affairs with women, drunkenness, gambling, drugs, embezzlement. Even something that gets no notice at all - failure to read the daily Breviary, a mortal sin for priests - is a major problem in the priesthood. You even mentioned some of these things in your answer, Terry. Can all of these problems be attributed to a homosexual network of priests? By just looking at homosexual priests and saying this is th e main problem in the priesthood is to give a pass to everything else. It is like saying you have lung cancer, but we can cure it if we can just cure your shortness of breath. The shortness of breath is a symptom, not the disease.
DeleteThe question is WHY do priests feel free to act out on their homosexuality. Why do they feel entitled to prey on the young and weak? Why do they feel entitled to live double lives? Pope Francis gave us the answer in his letter - clericalism. They feel privileged and entitled. They have abandoned the life of sacrifice and service to the laity and are only serving themselves.
That is why I say people like Voris are dangerous. He wants to stamp out all homosexual priests, but denies the root cause of it - clericalism. Voris actually said the Pope is wrong for saying this. I intend to listen to the Vicar of Christ.
Well I'm not a supporter of Voris, but I understand some of his responses over the years. he can never be taken seriously because he descend into mockery and scoffing in his reports - it's tabloid journalism - but even tabloids print the truth sometimes. The fact there are gay priests is one thing, the fact that there are unfaithful gay priests is quite another. The fact that they are or were protected and their infidelities ignored or covered up indicates as I keep repeating a corrupt clergy - clericalism. Yes - that is what it is, mired in a homosexual power structure which covers the multitude of other sins which you carefully noted. You surely do not understand or know anything about a homosexual culture dominating an institution, business, of office complex. It is exactly the same as what is happening in the Church. I've drawn comparisons to the Hollywood situation - Weinstein, Kevin Spacey - it's a mixed bag of crap - to be sure, one enables the other. It's the same in theater and the artworld and fashion.
DeleteOMG! If your question is why do priests feel free to act on their homosexuality - think it through? Why does anyone sin? Because we can.
There's no need to stamp out gay priests who are already ordained - if they are unfaithful then they can resign - if they are faithful, let them minister faithfully. I'd maybe suggest not promoting them to positions of authority, but that's not up to the laity. The place to start is the seminary. Rules and policy has been ignored - but it is a longstanding fact that homosexuals should not be admitted, and Francis just repeated that - "If you have any doubt, it is better not to admit them."
The clericalism that feels privileged and entitled is the clericalism which begins at the top. In other words bishop, cardinals, rector feel they can dispense with the rules and freely admit anyone they like to seminary and ordination. Be they straight or gay. If the bishop is gay, or the superior, good looking, intelligent men - straight or gay get admitted. LofC founder Maciel was a great example of just such a dynamic, and he was as corrupt as could be.
I too will listen to the Vicar of Christ - that is the part of your statement which is worth its weight. Whatever the symptom or sin - I think the corruption exists supported by that. The division and contempt aroused on all sides is diabolic, an attempt to split and divide the Church, especially by sowing mistrust in the hearts of the faithful, leading to contempt for the Holy Father and the Magisterium. Remain faithful to your caal, no matter what.
God bless you.
Sorry for the spelling errors - I think my meaning is clear however.
DeleteI guess I am confused. What is it that I need to understand about the “homosexual culture.” How is Kevin Spacey different from Bill Cosby or Harvey Weinstein? All three of these men exploited their power over the less powerful. Kevin Spacey chose male victims, and Cosby and Weinstein chose female victims. Other than that, what is the difference? I ask this sincerely. As far as I can see, sexual molestation is the same whether it is straight or gay. But if I am understanding you correctly, you feel there is a difference.
DeleteI am not questioning why priests act out and sin against the laity. My question was rhetorical. I thought I made it pretty clear that I accept the statement by Pope Francis that the root cause is clericalism. As I wrote, these priests felt or feel privileged and entitled. They put themselves above others. They have forgotten that as priests they are to serve God and his people, not be served. Priests lapsing occasionally into sin is one thing. They are human beings, Human beings sin. But when it is a way of life, as it was with McCarrick, then we are talking clericalism. Do you feel it is something more than that?
I agree that clergy Iike McCarrick have given Voris and those who agree with him plenty to work with and criticize. Voris has definitely stretched the truth, sometimes telling outright lies. But he is correct when he says there are bad priests. Pope Francis says that the root problem is clericalism. Voris completely rejects this, saying flat out that the Pope is wrong. I honestly cannot figure out what you are saying, Terry. At one point you agree that clericalism is a problem, then you say it is just gay priests. What I am missing?
I intend to listen to the Vicar of Christ as well and so I'm listening to John XXIII, Benedict XVI and Pope Francis himself on the wisdom of not allowing men with deep-seated same sex attraction into the priesthood.
ReplyDeleteYou say people like Voris are dangerous. Do you also include Phil Lawler, Leon Podles, Bishop Morlino, Bishop Paul Sirba, Rod Dreher, etc are also dangerous. Are St. John XXIII and Pope Benedict dangerous?
Clericalism is not "the root cause" of problematic "homosexual priests". It helps to shield these priests but it is not the root cause of their actions.
This is my last communique to you. I'm sticking my neck out using my real name. You're using the shield of anonymity. Maybe you have a good reason for this but it is my policy not to have continuous dialogues with anonymous posters.
May the Peace of Christ be with you.
Anyone who mistakes the symptoms for the disease will never cure the disease.
DeleteMost people do not reveal their identity on the Internet. In fact, I think it is dangerous to do so. But i don’t think revealing my true name either takes away or gives more credence to my words. Just as with you and everyone else, my words stand and fall on their own. Suffice it to say, like Pope Francis, I am a sinner, I am also a Catholic in good standing. I attend daily Mass and try to pray on a regular basis. I can most cetainly be wrong. I offer up my statements as something to consider. I think as long as we are true to our core beliefs and not just pushing an agenda, we can disagree with each and still be one in Christ.
"Anyone who mistakes the symptoms of the disease will never cure the disease." Exactly!
DeleteA very timely article by Father Roger Landry about whether clericalism or same-sex is the root of the problem. This is from today's Fall River Anchor.
"Finally, what is the root issue for the crisis? Some are claiming that it’s “clericalism.” Others the culture of toleration of unchastity among the clergy, especially sexually-active, same-sex networks. Which is it?
Both are important factors, but I’ve been noticing that “clericalism” and “abuse of power” seem to be the talking points of commentators who want to talk about reform while ducking the problem of priestly and episcopal unchastity in general and same-sex activity in particular. As we see in the case of former Cardinal McCarrick and page after page in the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report, however, the two go together.
Clericalism, an excessive focus on clergy privilege, helps to explain how some bishops were more concerned with the rights of abusive priests than they were the lives of those who were being abused.
But the worst forms of clericalism happen when priests forget that they are called, like Christ, to serve rather than be served, to sacrifice rather than receive, to share Christ’s teaching rather than their own ideas. When priests begin to live in defiance even of the Ten Commandments, substitute lust for agapé, and think that they should still have the right to approach the altar and confessional, or use the rectory as their subsidized lair, one of the most virulent forms of clericalism ensues.
This clericalism is something we’ve seen in all its ugliness among actively unchaste clerical gay networks — like the predatory homosexual child abuse ring in Pittsburgh — when they dominate seminaries, or dioceses or religious orders.
To try to eliminate clericalism without eradicating clerical sexual infidelity would be like trying to address a rising river without stemming one of its major tributaries. The reform of the Church requires fighting both, but it’s a dangerous red herring to suggest that this crisis was caused mainly by priestly pride and not fundamentally by tolerated priestly unchastity and sexual sinfulness."
http://www.anchornews.org/columnists/landry/08-24-18.html
Thank you. He makes some good points. I sort of agree. Yes, the sin of unchasteness and the sin of clericalism go together. But clericalism can lead to a lot more than homosexual abuse. It can lead to heterosexual affairs, embezzlement, drunkenness, drugs, gambling, and every other kind of sin, including just general dereliction of a priest’s duty to the laity, considering them not important enough for his time. That is why I say that clericalism is the root cause, and the abusive priests are just one symptom of that. I am not saying that every time a priest sins, he is guilty of clericalism. It is, as Fr. Landry seems to indicate, when the sin becomes a way of life so that the priest doesn’t even care anymore that he sinning.
DeleteI am not sure what he means by “eradicating clerical sexual identity.” Is he saying gay priests have to stop identifying as gay?
Fr. Landry does seem to be in direct conflict with the Holy Father with this statement: “it’s a dangerous red herring to suggest that this crisis was caused mainly by priestly pride and not fundamentally by tolerated priestly unchastity and sexual sinfulness.” Why was the “priestly unchastity and sexual sinfulness” tolerated in the first place? The answer: clericalism.
Oh well, whatever we call it, whoever we blame, corruption has entered the Church - it has happened in earlier centuries and has erupted big time in our day - and God will purify the Church and that means the college of Cardinals as well as the clergy. The Pope and the bishops in union with him will be obliged to cooperate with the purification, cleansing of the Temple. Christ came to save sinners, and he won't leave us orphans. Penance and prayer - our wicks trimmed, our lamps lighted and burning strong.
DeleteAmen.
DeleteSouthernchild,
DeleteFather Landry did NOT say "eradicating sexual identity". He said "eradicating sexual infidelity". That's a difference of cosmic proportions. But in his statement on Monday, May 18, Francis said that men with “deeply rooted” homosexual tendencies, or who “practice homosexual acts,” shouldn’t be allowed into the seminary. It sound like Francis, not Father Landry, is "saying gay priests have to stop identifying as gay."
As far as Father Landry being in direct conflict with the Holy Father, he is loyal to the Church and to the Holy Father. Everything that Pope Francis says doesn't fall under the umbrella of infallibility. Remember, only a short while ago he accused the Chilean sexual abuse victims of slander. Was Francis right when he said this? Wasn't he, in fact, guilty of clericalism himself? You can't take everything a Pope says as an ontological truth. That's excessive Ultramontanism and engaging in it can enable the disease of clericalism.
I have asked the Lord for years to protect Pope Francis and to bless him with a long and fruitful pontificate. That doesn't mean I have to agree with everything he says.
It seems we are severely wounded and descending into accusations and recriminations.
ReplyDeleteNo. I think we are just trying to understand how our priests got so far off track. How did we get such a large number of priests living a double life, pretending to serve God and the Church when in reality all they were serving were their basest appetites. We have been betrayed by our priests and bishops. We really need to understand this.
ReplyDeleteFew seem to be listening to reason, let it go and pray and do penance and have confidence that God is in charge and will act. It's beginning.
DeleteAmen Terry.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletewallacehamilton8:32 PM
ReplyDeleteI agree that exposure is necessary. This is ugly and hurtful business. I have,and still maintain,a radical governance change is needed. Lay Boards and women religious and lay people need more then advisory roles in the day to day supervision of the oversight and operation of Chanceries and religious communities. Church Militant is of course all into this. Michael Voris is calling "clericalism" as the corrupt hierarchy's political correct way to sidestep the bigger problem of a gay cabal. He goes on to report the other scheme under way by the Chanceries across the country is the conduction of legacy campaigns to build an endowment fund while my generation is still around to give. This scandal jeopardizes that fundraising which is another reason to deep six it. So, Illinois and Missouri are convincing grand juries. New York is reported not far behind. Yes, the dam is breaking and the deluge is coming. Sickening does not even touch this. It is hard to distinguish between friend or foe. We have no choice but to watch what unfolds and pray for justice, cleasening and deliverance. I for one do not want to see what is coming but secrecy and denial are not options.
You and Frank have your feet on the ground and are very stable. Thanks for you great comments Wallace.
Delete